FACTBOX-Mali's mosaic of armed groups

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels launcheda counter-offensive on Monday in central Mali after four days ofair strikes by French warplanes on their strongholds in thedesert north.

Here is a look at the main armed rebel groups in Mali:

* AQIM - Born out of the Algerian Salafist movement, GSPC,Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) arrived on the publicstage in January 2007. It rose to prominence partly by attackingAlgerian government forces but mainly through its involvement inkidnapping Westerners across the Sahel zone including Mali,Niger and Mauritania. It has also links to trans-Saharasmuggling - a trade that includes drugs, guns and people -topping up the tens of millions of dollars raised fromransom-taking. In July 2012, the head of U.S. Africa Commanddescribed AQIM as al-Qaeda's "wealthiest affiliate".

- Its objectives include ridding North Africa of Westerninfluence, overthrowing apostate "unbeliever" governments. Itsleaders are Algerian militant Abdelmalek Droukdel and SalahGasmi. Gasmi, the group's number two, was arrested in northernAlgeria last month. It has traditionally operated in Malithrough two wings, or katibas. France has advised its 6,000citizens in Mali to leave as AQIM has in turn promised revengefor the French military intervention in Mali.

* ANSAR AL DINE - Ansar Dine, which experts say has links tolocal al Qaeda factions, is a Tuareg-led Islamist group. Itsname means "Defenders of the Faith" and it follows thepuritanical form of Islam known as Salafism. Ansar Dine'sleader, renegade Tuareg chieftain Iyad Ag Ghali, is linked toAQIM through a cousin who is a local commander and the group hasreceived financing from AQIM, diplomats said. Ansar Dine andother Islamists gained the upper hand in Mali last year whenthey hijacked a rebellion launched by the secular MNLA Tuaregrebel group that fought for independence in 2012.

- Ansar Dine's turbaned fighters, who operate under theblack Islamist flag, initially gained a reputation in the northfor keeping order after outbreaks of looting. However theystarted enforcing sharia, earning hostility from locals who havea long history of practising a more liberal, tolerant style ofIslam. The group has said that Timbuktu's famed shrines areun-Islamic and idolatrous. Much of the area's religious heritagehas now been destroyed.

* MUJWA - The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa(MUJWA) is seen an AQIM splinter group that formed in late 2011.The faction retains links to AQIM but has focussed on broadeningits base from the domination of AQIM's Algerian-dominatedleadership. Its stronghold has been in Gao, the biggest town inMali's north, and it has drawn recruits from a range of ethnicgroups in Mali and elsewhere in the region. Last month theUnited States designated the group and Hamad Al Khairy and AhmadAl Tilemsi, two of the organisation's leaders, as SpeciallyDesignated Global Terrorists. MUJWA has also been behind attacksand hostage taking in the region.